- Heat pollution
Heat pollution (atmospheric) is a term used to describe the release of heat into the environment by human activities. [citeweb|title=Air Pollution & the Urban Heat Island|url=http://iri.columbia.edu/~bhoch/bergen/pdf/lec14notes.pdf|publisher="
The Earth Institute "|accessdate=2008-10-03] By contrast,global warming is thought to be the result of the increase ingreenhouse gas es (CO2 emissions). [citeweb|title=Top Firms Call for Climate Action|url=http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=5828|publisher="Environmental Defense Fund |accessdate=2008-10-01] Experts on the climate have debated the broader subject of global warming as well as its potential constituents. These include heat pollution, the greenhouse effect, and solar variation.Urban heat island
Developed environments like concrete and black roads absorb and store heat more readily than naturalland cover because of their heat capacity. The urban heat island phenomenon traps heat in thermal mass and is ultimately emitted back into to the urban air especially at night. [citeweb|title=Anthropogenic heat island at Barrow|author=Kenneth M. Hinkel|url=http://www.geography.uc.edu/~kenhinke/uhi/Hinkel&Nelson_JGR-A_2007.pdf|doi=10.1029/2006JD007837] This hot city phenomenon has far-reaching environmental sustainability and human livability implications, ranging from the aggravation of health problems such ashyperthermia , increasing the intensity of urban air pollution, and contributing to extremeheat wave s. [citeweb|title=Heat Wave: A Major Summer Killer|url=http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om//brochures/heat_wave.shtml|publisher="National Weather Service "|accessdate=2008-10-03] Excess heat also adds to the ever-increasing use of air conditioners, with higher demands on the energy supply, potentially resulting in brownouts and higher greenhouse gas emissions.citeweb|title=How Do Heat Islands Affect Us?
url=http://www.epa.gov/hiri/resources/pdf/HIRIbrochure.txt|publisher="Environmental Protection Agency "|accessdate=2008-10-02]Some causes of urban heat islands are the displacement of trees and vegetation to make way for development and even prevailing weather conditions. Heat from vehicles, manufacturing plants, and
thermal power station s also contribute to excess heat in urban areas. Land use is a key attribute for the development of locally significant heat islands.Impact on global climate
The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that the net effects of heat pollution on global warming "are small at the global scale in comparison with greenhouse gas warming". [cite book | title = Working Group I: The Physical Basis for Climate Change (Technical summary) | publisher = IPCC | year = 2007 | isbn = 978 0521 88009-1 | url = http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/Report/AR4WG1_Print_TS.pdf]ee also
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Little Ice Age References
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